Which Foods Lower Blood Sugar?

Your blood sugar levels have been creeping up. Your doctor has been bugging you to do something about it – even threatening to put you on medications if you don’t get your blood sugar under control. So, which foods lower blood sugar?

Now it’s the first of the year, and you’ve vowed to do something about it. You have vowed to make better food choices. That should be easy. There is lots of great advice about foods that lower blood sugar on the internet. For example, in a recent search, I found articles proclaiming “9 foods that lower blood sugar”, “7 foods that control blood sugar”, and “12 power foods to beat diabetes”.

But, are those foods the right ones for you? What if we are remarkably different in our blood sugar responses to the same food? This is just what a recent study suggests.

How Was The Study Designed?

A group of scientists in Isreal set out to test the hypothesis that people eating identical meals might have a high variability in their post-meal blood glucose response (Zeevi et al, Cell, 163, 1079-1094, 2015).

The investigators enrolled 800 subjects ages 18-70 into their study. None of the individuals had diabetes. However, 54% of them were overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) and 22% of them were obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2). Thus, their subject population was typical of the adult population of almost every Western, industrialized country.

All 800 subjects were followed for one week during which time:

They were connected to a continuous glucose monitor, which measured their blood glucose levels every 5 seconds.

They were given a Smartphone app and instructed to log their food intake, exercise, and sleep in real time.

They were told to follow their normal daily routine and dietary habits except for the first meal of every day, which consisted of five different types of standardized “meals” (glucose, fructose, bread, bread with butter, bread with chocolate), all providing 50 gm of available carbohydrate.

The glucose monitor recorded blood sugar responses for 2 hours following each meal. From that information, the investigators calculated a PPGR (post-prandial glycemic response), which I will mercifully refer to as “blood sugar response”, for every meal eaten by every subject throughout the week.

The standardized “meals” eaten at the beginning of the day were used to validate the study. For example:

Two of the standardized meals were given to each subject twice during the study separated by at least one day.

There was very little variability in blood sugar response when the same standardized meal was given to the same subject on different days.

However, there was a significant amount of variability in blood sugar response when the same standardized meal was given to different subjects.

The average blood sugar response to each of the standardized meals was very similar to literature values from previous studies (Most previous studies have reported only average blood sugar responses, not individual variability).

In short, the results from the standardized “meals” validated both the reliability and reproducibility of the data.

Finally, to eliminate as many confounding variables as possible, the investigators compared blood sugar response only for those meals in which a single food was the major component of the meal and that food provided 20-40 gm of carbohydrate.

Here is where things got really interesting!

Which Foods Lower Blood Sugar?

This study showed that there is tremendous individual variability in the blood sugar response to any given food. For example, individual blood sugar responses varied by:

4-fold for sugar-sweetened soft drinks, grapes and apples.

5-fold for rice.

6-fold for bread and potatoes.

7-fold for ice cream and dates.

Put another way:

Some people had almost no blood sugar response to cookies, but a very high blood sugar response to a banana.

Other people had almost no blood sugar response to bananas, but a very high blood sugar response to cookies.

That is a pretty striking result. Which foods lower blood sugar? This study suggests that some people trying to control their blood sugar can eat bananas, while others should avoid them. It might even mean that some people trying to control blood sugar can eat cookies. I know that is what many people would like to hear, but I’m not ready to make that recommendation.

Why Is There So Much Individuality in Blood Sugar Response?

You are probably wondering why there is such variability in blood sugar response to the same foods. There are several factors that influence individual blood sugar response. For example,

The bacteria in our intestine (This may be a chicken-and egg thing. The bacteria in our intestine are influenced by our dietary habits.)

Genetics.

Things we don’t yet know about.

The good news is that we can actually control some of these variables. The ones over which we have the most control are weight, dietary habits, what we eat along with the carbohydrates in our meals, and physical activity.

What Does This Mean For You?

The authors concluded that “universal dietary recommendations [for lowering blood sugar levels] may have limited utility.” That is because dietary recommendations are based on average responses and none of us are average. As the saying goes “We are all wonderfully [and differently] made”.

So, when you read about diets and foods that will help you keep your blood sugar levels under control, take those recommendations with a grain of…sugar. They are a good starting place, but you need to listen to your body, and eat the foods that work best for you. So, which foods lower blood sugar? It is different for different people, but there are some variables you can control.

Don’t get carried away, however. I’m pretty sure Twinkies washed down with a soft drink are bad for just about everyone.

More importantly, control the variables you can – weight, dietary habits, foods you eat along with carbohydrates, and physical activity. If you control those four variables, you will be well on your way to ideal blood sugar control.

The Bottom Line

A recent study has shown that there is tremendous variability in blood sugar response to identical meals from one individual to the next.

The authors of the study concluded that “universal dietary recommendations [for lowering blood sugar levels] may have limited utility.” That is because dietary recommendations are based on average responses, and none of us are average.

So, when you read about diets and foods that will help you keep your blood sugar levels under control, take those recommendations with a grain of…sugar. They are a good starting place, but you need to listen to your body, and eat the foods that work best for you.

There are variables influencing our blood sugar response that we cannot control, such as genetics. However, there are some very important variables that we can control. For example, we can improve our blood sugar response by:

Attaining and maintaining ideal weight. Losing as little as 5-10 pounds can result in a significant improvement.

A Sleeping position that has your head tilted puts pressure on your spinal cord and will cause headaches. I’ve seen it happen hundreds of times, and the reasoning is so logical it’s easy to understand.

Your spinal cord runs from your brain, through each of your vertebrae, down your arms and legs. Nerves pass out of the vertebrae and go to every cell in your body, including each of your organs. When you are sleeping it is important to keep your head, neck, and spine in a horizontal plane so you aren’t straining the muscles that insert into your vertebrae.

The graphic above is a close-up of your skull and the cervical (neck) vertebrae. Your nerves are shown in yellow, and your artery is shown in red. Consider what happens if you hold your head to one side for hours. You can notice that the nerves and artery will likely be press upon. Also, since your spinal cord comes down the inside of the vertebrae, it will also be impinged.

In 2004 the Archives of Internal Medicine published an article stating that 1 out of 13 people have morning headaches. It’s interesting to note that the article never mentions the spinal cord being impinged by the vertebrae. That’s a major oversight!

Muscles merge into tendons, and the tendons insert into the bone. As you stayed in the tilted position for hours, the muscles actually shortened to the new length. Then you try to turn over, but the short muscles are holding your cervical vertebrae tightly, and they can’t lengthen.

The weight of your head pulls on the vertebrae, putting even more pressure on your spinal cord and nerves. Plus, the tight muscles are pulling on the bones, causing pain on the bone.

Your Pillow is Involved in Your Sleeping Position and the Causes of Headaches

The analogy I always use is; just as pulling your hair hurts your scalp, the muscle pulling on the tendons hurts the bone where it inserts. In this case it is your neck muscles putting a strain on your cervical bones. For example, if you sleep on your left side and your pillow is too thick, your head will be tilted up toward the ceiling. This position tightens the muscles on the right side of your neck.

Dozing off while sitting in a car waiting for someone to arrive, or while working for hours at your desk can also cause headaches. The pictures above show a strain on the neck when you fall asleep without any support on your neck. Both of these people will wake up with a headache, and with stiffness in their neck.

The best sleeping position to prevent headaches is to have your pillow adjusted so your head, neck, and spine are in a horizontal line. Play with your pillows, putting two thin pillows into one case if necessary. If your pillow is too thick try to open up a corner and pull out some of the stuffing.

Sleeping on Your Back & Stomach

If you sleep on your back and have your head on the mattress, your spine is straight. All you need is a little neck pillow for support, and a pillow under your knees.

Stomach sleeping is the worst sleeping position for not only headaches, but so many other aches and pains. It’s a tough habit to break, but it can be done. This sleeping position deserves its own blog, which I will do in the future.

Treating the Muscles That Cause Headaches

All of the muscles that originate or insert into your cervical vertebrae, and many that insert into your shoulder and upper back, need to be treated. The treatments are all taught in Treat Yourself to Pain Free Living, in the neck and shoulder chapters. Here is one treatment that will help you get relief.

Take either a tennis ball or the Perfect Ball (which really is Perfect because it has a solid center and soft outside) and press into your shoulder as shown. You are treating a muscle called Levator Scapulae which pulls your cervical vertebrae out of alignment when it is tight.

Hold the press for about 30 seconds, release, and then press again.

Your pillow is a key to neck pain and headaches caused by your sleeping position. It’s worth the time and energy to investigate how you sleep and correct your pillow. I believe this blog will help you find the solution and will insure you have restful sleep each night.

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

About The Author

Julie Donnelly is a Deep Muscle Massage Therapist with 20 years of experience specializing in the treatment of chronic joint pain and sports injuries. She has worked extensively with elite athletes and patients who have been unsuccessful at finding relief through the more conventional therapies.

She has been widely published, both on – and off – line, in magazines, newsletters, and newspapers around the country. She is also often chosen to speak at national conventions, medical schools, and health facilities nationwide.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Meet The Experts

The statements in these articles have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Any Health Care changes should be made only after consulting with your Doctor and licensed Health Care Advisor.

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